Recovering from a Serious Error

For the third time in the few months since the Geek Squad installed my new hard drive because my computer did not recover from a serious error, today my computer "recovered from a serious error." The solution to this problem is to install the most current device driver, whatever that is. Despite being a technoweenie, I bravely decide today is the day to do this. I open the Microsoft Update window. Expecting the fresh breeze of a "Why, yes, Jane, here's the exact driver you need to install" message to waft in, I am disappointed to see the stifling "You have to update Internet Explorer" message slumped on the windowsill. Okay then.

I click Download. So far, so good. Internet Explorer 8 downloads. But it doesn't install, and I see no Install button. No matter. I'm sure IE7 will still work, so I open it. It doesn't. It tells me I need to install IE8. I see where to click for this, so I do and it does, except it won't work until I restart my computer. I fear having to find the Update page again but figure Google can find anything, so I close and restart.

A new, cheery, little red window tells me I have to update Adobe Flash Player. This is not on today's agenda, but hey, why not? I download and install. Now back to IE8. The search engine is now something called Bing. Cute name, but Google rocks, so I figure out how to use Google from this screen and find my Microsoft Update page again. Three updates that weren't there before are there now. I click to update and install. Of course a restart is required.

Back at the Update page, I search Hardware, Optional for the driver update, which is nowhere to be found. But there are nine software updates. I pick two that seem helpful, but who really knows? After each install, I of course restart the computer.

Finally, I give up on Updates and Google device drivers but find only advice I can't understand. Except one article mentions the Control Panel. Aha! The Control Panel has an Add Hardware icon. Yippee. Except it's blank. You have to have the hardware to add ~ which I don't. But while there, I see a Scanners and Cameras icon, which reminds me since my new hard drive was installed, I haven't been able to use my scanner or figure out how to reload whatever it needs to work. But this window offers a wizard. I love computer wizards. I was able to reinstall my scanning device and scan the photo I wanted. I didn't even have to restart the computer.

So it's two-and-a-half hours after I began looking for my current device driver, and I have not found it. But I have installed at least seven updates. I wonder if I can avoid another "serious error" by simply never turning off my computer from now till eternity. Upon turning off the computer ~ we both need a rest ... hang the serious errors ~ I see a message that I am not to turn off the computer, as it will be installing eight updates. Sheeesh. I walk away to recover from recovering.

Vacation: Wrap-Up

Now that I've unpacked, done laundry, changed back from travel purse to everyday purse, and written thank-you notes, my vacation is officially over. Well, writing this final vacation blog post and putting a photo album on Webshots and Facebook, and then it will be over. The photos will take me several more days, since I go back to work today.

A few miscellaneous notes on this vacation ~

• a sparkling, flaming hurray! for Marriott properties
• a sputtering, lukewarm okay for Thrifty car rental
• many colorful, pyrotechnic oohs and aahs for the beauty and history of Virginia

Still haven't finished reading the novel I took on vacation. Glad I traded reading time for visiting time though. Francoise and I did read Why Not, Lafayette?, the short book she bought me so that we could learn why Lafayette kept popping up in presidents' homes. Portraits, plaster busts, and anecdotes of Lafayette seemed to be everywhere, and now we know why.

Like Thomas Jefferson bringing France home with him in the form of ideas, architecture, horticulture, cuisine, I want to bring Virginia home with me. I'm sure going to try to replicate the Inn at Meander Plantation's sweet white corn soup. I'll make sandwiches by spreading basil pesto on one piece of bread and olive tapenade on the other, an idea borrowed from the Smithsonian's cafe. I'll try making my own mayonnaise; I don't have Cock and Bowl's recipe, but I have Julia Child's! Joan's pasta sauce and salad dressing are must-tries. Francoise's tomates farcies from her last dinner in our home will be delightful to repeat, especially when our garden tomatoes pop. I now have a stunning mug, made by Joan, to enjoy my tea in. And Google will be smokin' by the time I look up all the questions our presidential tours sparked. (Plus, I've added a few books to my amazon.com wish list, family and friends!) Next spring, I'll be excited to plant flower and vegetable seeds I bought at Monticello and Montpelier.

Oh, and I still need to discard miscellaneous ticket stubs and notes, like the list of things I wanted to do with Francoise while she was in the Chicago area. We made it to the lively Grayslake farmers market and downtown Libertyville, and we took several pleasant walks and picked peas and beans ~ nothing postcard-worthy. We never made it to the Museum of Science and Industry or Chicago Theatre or outdoor concerts or Cantigny. Hope she'll visit Chicago again so that we can see and do more here. We toyed with the idea of going to a county fair but didn't make it to any of those either. Francoise's longest, heartiest laugh of the whole vacation came on the way to the airport yesterday when I consoled her about missing a county fair by assuring that next time she comes, we will milk a goat. Okay, so I guess that isn't on everyone else's dream list. ;-)

Vacation: Mount Vernon

To round out what we now call our "presidential tour," we visited George Washington's home, Mount Vernon.

People rocking in chairs on this pillared terrace have a spectacular Potomac panorama. And many guests did today ~ another hot one! Note the dove of peace weathervane.

The tree below dates from George Washington's father's day. It's a chestnut oak.

Vacation: Friday and Saturday

Flavorful frittata for breakfast at Meander Plantation, a short time gazing at the Blue Ridge Mountains and reading on the back veranda, and we were on our way north to Alexandria. More rolling hills, more battlefields, another Starbucks stop, and we were back at Joan and John's. The entire way, Madame GPS informed us she had lost satellite reception. When we pulled into the driveway, however, she announced we had reached our destination. Merci beaucoup!

Since our suitcases contained five days worth of sweaty clothes in plastic bags, first order of business was doing laundry. Then all four of us headed into Old Town Alexandria for a gourmet dinner at Vermilion. After Thursday night's feast at Meander, Francoise and I didn't think we could eat another big meal. Guess what ~ we chowed down again. I had peach gazpacho soup and tender chicken on a bed of tasty succotash.
Saturday morning we bought tomatoes and peaches at the Market Square farmers market (where vendors packed up and left about an hour and a half early due to inhospitable temps) and we visited Joan at her shop in the Torpedo Factory art center in Old Town Alexandria. We visited other artists' shops and galleries there, too, and did a few fun shops on King Street, ate a salmon and salad lunch at Chadwick's on the Potomac. Then we plodded along in the intense heat about eight blocks to see the house Robert E. Lee had grown up in, only to find it closed when we got there. At first, this walk was hot but picturesque, and we lingered to take photos of interesting architecture like this pink and aqua house. But then we began suffering from the heat and enjoyed nothing really. I was going to say about Friday, "We hit 100 degrees!" But on Saturday we hit 104 degrees, so hey, never mind about Friday.

We also made a short stop at the Inventors Hall of Fame by the U.S. Patent Office. The theme of the exhibits was food-related inventions and included the Jolly Green Giant, Julia Child, and the Planters Peanut man. Don't ask me anything about them though; my brain was too scrambled from the heat.

Vacation: Montpelier and Meander

On our drive down to Charlottesville Monday, Francoise noticed pillars on many structures. At first, red soil and large homes with fat round pillars reminded her of Tara from Gone with the Wind. Then we saw shacks with skinny square pillars. Tiny ranches had pillars on front porches. A trailer home had pillars; the Shell gas station convenience store had pillars. Only barns and silos seemed exempt from pillar frenzy. Francoise, who had already expressed an interest in seeing a plantation on this trip, now really wanted to tour a plantation. Monticello's plantation tour had disappointed her. And the best selection of plantation tours ~ down the James River south of Williamsburg ~ was just too far to go in one day. So our compromise was James Madison's Montpelier.

Not knowing much about James Madison, we took the house tour, which included stories of three generations of Madisons, as well as reports of archaeology discoveries at Montpelier. Because of hard economic times after Madison's death, his widow Dolley had to sell furniture and other household items. Also, during their lifetimes, when they were away from Montpelier, Dolley's ne'er-do-well son came and spirited off silverware and other valuables to sell for drink and gambling. The house, which has undergone a major recent restoration, is largely unfurnished. The search is on, however, for their furnishings, or at least what historians can determine might be similar to their furnishings.

I liked hearing about clues in this search. For example, in restoring the house, archaeologists looked behind some walls. In one spot, they found a mouse nest with a scrap of paper handwritten by James Madison, a scrap of newspaper from his time, and a scrap of wallpaper. What a find! Outside the senior Madisons' wing of the house, archaeologists are now digging in hope of finding artifacts from the slave quarters and stables.
James Madison (junior, the fourth U.S. president) himself was not the commanding figure that Jefferson was. His enemies said he was about five-foot-two, his friends said five-foot-four, and he certainly was shorter than Dolley, which is why one never sees images of them standing side by side. Jefferson was six-foot-two-and-a-half in an age when height averaged five-foot-five or so. Often, Madison is considered to be just an echo of Jefferson. But he was an intellect in his own right. By age 14, he had read every one of his father's 600 books. His own library later numbered in the thousands of books. He was multilingual and studied governments of every kind of many countries as he was penning our Bill of Rights in order that the United States might learn from history. And although Madison was influenced by his good friend Thomas Jefferson, he made decisions, for example in the architecture of Montpelier, independent of Jefferson's advice.

Dolley Madison is famous for her hospitality. Because of the 24-foot-deep ice cellar Madison kept, Dolley and her kitchen slaves were even able to make ice cream for their parties of 90 on the lawn or 25 overnight guests (yikes!). Our guide said one flavor she served her guests was oyster ice cream (yikes again).

Our next stop was just to be our last night's lodging, but it turned out to be the plantation of Francoise's dreams. Although not a working plantation, it had the requisite pillars and gardens and horses. Anyway, she was pretty excited to see the Inn at Meander Plantation, which made me glad since we hadn't gotten down to the James River.

The Inn, established in 1727, was the first plantation settled in Madison County. Its mossy brick pathways, narrow wooden staircases, and slanted doorways and floors whispered its age. The plantation's first owner and Thomas Jefferson's father surveyed and drew the first map of Virginia. Current owners Suzie Blanchard and Suzanne Thomas give cooking classes and operate a gourmet restaurant in addition to the bed and breakfast. As I wandered the property and admired vigorous vegetable and herb gardens, my mouth watered. I was pretty sure this lovely produce would end up in my dinner.

Sure enough, for dinner, I had heirloom tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil, and mozzarella cheese so fresh, I was sure the water buffalo it came from must be under our table. Second course: local white corn soup, which Suzie told me has four (count 'em, four) ingredients, corn, onions, thyme, and chicken broth. The white corn must have been very fresh and very sweet! Intermezzo: lemon sorbet. Third course: roasted quail with cinnamon sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. Fourth course: chocolate espresso pot de creme with chocolate-covered strawberry. I'd like to describe the purity of these flavors, but words fail me.

Vacation: Wednesday

Wednesday was a Charlottesville day. Being out in the intense heat 10 to 5 Tuesday at Monticello roasted our bodies and fried our brains. So in the morning we walked a few short blocks to Main Street Market. On the outside it looked like an old cinderblock gas station painted brown with two small glass doors in the front. Enter one door, and you're in a bright, funky kitchen gadget shop that leads back to a shop aptly named and punctuated Feast! In France it might be called an epicerie, or small shop for groceries. The small produce bin contained local fruits and veggies. The cheese and sausage counter contained locally made products, too, and we bought some chevre with ash. There were some sauces, jams, nuts, chocolates, wines, and other bottled beverages. I didn't recognize any brands, so Feast! was a true foodie adventure. Also nearby was a fish market specializing in sushi. We finished shopping and then realized we hadn't gone into the other small glass door in the front of the market building. WELL. It turned out to be a gourmet chocolate shop named Gearhearts. We each bought a piece of the Maya variety: rich, bittersweet chocolate ganache flavored with cinnamon, Ancho chili and orange, dusted with cocoa. We ate these on the spot ... mmm.

After enjoying our lunch of Feast! products back in the air-conditioned hotel room, Francoise headed back to the historic old town to buy more T-shirts for her family in France, and I made several little jaunts to the nearest CVS to have some photos printed. We both finished writing postcards.

More evidence of the heat and humidity: If you laid a postcard on a table, you could actually see the edges curl up in a few moments. If you held a postcard with your fingers, the card would soon be ridged. And I saw what seemed to be an emery board melted to the sidewalk.

Vacation: Monticello

The centerpiece of this vacation was to be Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Indeed, Tuesday we had a behind-the-scenes tour, a house tour, and plantation community tour. Just a few observations of my own and three tour guides:

Thomas Jefferson was more introvert than extrovert. Surprising because of his public life, renowned hospitality, and ambitious travels and undertakings. One of our guides said, however, that T.J. was uncomfortable in crowds; he preferred small groups of close friends. In fact, at least one year when he was president, he mailed in his state of the union address so that he could avoid making the speech. Another of our guides said that his quiet correspondence came first each day. Visitors would just have to wait in the entry hall until T.J. finished writing letters.

One guide said that T.J. is thought of as an inventor, but he was actually more of an adaptor. I am not sure which clever items in Monticello were inventions and which were adaptations. One item was a dumb waiter for wine bottles in the sides of a fireplace. Another was a clock with hour, minute, and second hands, connected to a ball-and-chain contraption that told the day of the week. Another was a double-pen apparatus that automatically copied anything he wrote with one of the pens. He favored Palladio architectural concepts he observed in Europe and incorporated them into his design of Monticello.

The simplicity of the place struck me. Nothing was fancy. Fine, yes. Fancy, no.

T.J. was conflicted on the subject of slavery. He owned slaves, but he treated them with respect and kindness. If one was injured, he immediately sent into Charlottesville for the finest doctors. He informally educated some slaves. Although laws at the time were harsh for runaway slaves, T.J. is known to have protected one man who ran away to be with his "wife" at the White House; not only did he send him back to Monticello, he promoted him to supervisory positions among the slaves there. He believed in this man and understood why he had run away. Apparently, T.J. proposed a law that would educate slaves, free them, and send them to Liberia. He believed they wouldn't be really free unless they were educated and away from the inevitable bitterness resulting from the experience of slavery. Because other slave-owning legislators adamantly clung to the comforts their slaves provided, T.J.'s proposal was not enacted into law. Several years later, a law was passed forbidding owners to educate slaves. Ugh.

In Jefferson's "cabinet" (his home office), he had a bed and sitting room. The sitting room contained the fireplace to heat both rooms, so his cabinet would have been fairly chilly in winter. And he'd put huge windows in his personal quarters. Our guide pointed out that in designing this, he had made a conscious choice of light over heat.

I wish we had a choice of light over heat! :-) Virginia in July, there's just no escaping this heat. Scalding sweat stings your eyes. Steam clouds your vision. Nothing is dry enough to wipe the steam off your glasses. No matter ~ what good are glasses when your eyes are swollen shut? You wonder if bugs have gotten inside your clothes to tickle you, but no, just perspiration rivulets trickling down your sides. When we get into air conditioning, we laugh about it, but out in nature's sauna, man, we're in survival mode. Just pick up one foot, Jane. Put it down. Now pick up the other foot ...